Baruch Scholars 2017

Being a Baruch Scholar I have a role of participating in the community. Although we are all only just starting out, and maybe unsure of what our exact role is, or what we should be doing, I acknowledge that we have to be active. Not only for the community itself, but for our own selves as well. Currently, I am am taking part in the Conversation Partners Program at Baruch. It’s a club that isn’t very rigid, it is more about personal efforts. It is my duty to actively make meeting plans with my partners. My partners are nonnative english speakers who I am trying to help become more comfortable in America and more comfortable speaking English. I’m not writing this to say how fulfilling or amazing the experience is, because again I am only just starting out and I haven’t began to analyze my growth for my little time here. Sure I have learned plenty in class and in this club, but I am still learning and growing everyday and trying to experience new things. I think that’s what serving the community is about, as a Baruch Scholar or not. It’s about learning and growing while helping others learn and grow. I don’t think it necessarily has to be life changing in any way, because little things can go as long a way as big things. Things that you might do everyday that you might not even realize is ‘serving the community’ like holding the elevator or holding the door for people, can make differences in other people’s lives. So it is my duty, and should be everyone’s duty to actively participate in the community in any way possible, big or small. The honors program promotes the idea of service and action and I think it is extremely important because some people might need that little push to give back. Because helping others helps us help ourselves.

The role I assume in Baruch is that of a student, while in the broader community outside of Baruch, my role is just a typical young adult that lives in New York. As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I think it wouldn’t change my role in Baruch or in the broader community in general, but it will certainly increase the pressure on how I perform in these roles. I think as a Baruch Scholar, there’s a standard that I have to uphold and a responsibility to make sure that I don’t cause some sort of trouble that will sully the name of Baruch and the Honors Program. There is a need for us to act in a way that wouldn’t hurt others, and consider how we can benefit others through our actions. To be polite to those around you and be considerate to people you meet whether you are in Baruch or outside of Baruch.

The Honors Program requires us to fulfill a certain amount of community service every year and attend a cultural event each semester. I think the cultural event is a requirement as a way to help us open up to the community around us. Kind of forcing us to go out and explore, and not just stay home. To see what is happening around you and enjoy the things available to you. I think the community service is a way we can give back to the community, helping out those who might need our help within our power. As we receive things from the community, such as the financial aid we get from the government and the scholarship and opportunities offered to us through the Honors Program, community service is a way we can easily return the favor and do something good with our time. Not only to take but to give back. Possibly helping us shape a habit of helping others and volunteering in places that need our time and support even after graduating from Baruch.

Chris Mortenson

In  my opinion serving my community means helping anyone out that is part of my community or take part in events held by my community. Even if it’s just helping a neighbor out with something or helping out at something like a clothes drive. As long as you are doing something to help the people around you I feel that it can be in a way considered a form of community service.

As a Baruch Scholar and student I think that it’s important to try and get involved with community service on one way or another. Obviously we all have to do a certain amount of hours as honors students, but I think it goes deeper than that. Simply joining a club means that you are getting involved in the Baruch community and not only is that important for the school, it is important to us. It gives us a way to connect with new people and make friendships and connections we may never have made if we chose to not join a club. Sure we all know each other well within the program, but I’m sure there’s a lot less people we know or are friends with outside of the program.

As for the culture of service the Honors Program promotes, I certainly think it is important. It can help us create more opportunities in the future and allow us to try things we may not have that we may end up actually enjoying.

Journal #2 – Group #2

Even just as one person, the role of an individual changes depending on the environment and situation. Here at Baruch, the role that I take on is a student, but once I step out of this school and onto the streets of New York City, I take on the role as a New Yorker and as a member of society. Because each of these roles is different, there are different responsibilities that come with each title. As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors program, the responsibilities that I have in order to fulfill the role I play is to be involved on- and off-campus. This means joining organizations and being part of the school community. In addition, it means giving back to the community that has given me so much, things often taken for granted. One of the major things that have been given to me is opportunities—opportunities to take part in community events. This is done so by serving those who may be less fortunate than I am, whether it be volunteering or any other way that would better the community. An experience that really opened my eyes about those around me in the city was volunteering at a soup kitchen. It made me realize how thankful I am to be able to be part of a financially stable family that is able to provide me with this life, while others are not as fortunate.

The role that I believe I play in the Baruch and broader community relates to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes because the tuition for me to attend this school has been covered by a scholarship, an example of how others have given back to the school particularly, and the Honors Program reinforces the idea of contributing back to society through volunteer work to serve and better the community.

My role in the Baruch College as a Baruch Scholar is to get high grades so we’re in good standing with the GPA requirements, complete the 15 hours of community service each year, and to go to an arts/culture event each semester. For the broader community, my role is to help out with community service like before.

I think that my role should be something along the lines of a good role model to other honor students and non-honor students. I shouldn’t be doing anything that would look bad on the school’s part and the Honors Program’s part. As for the larger community, I should be going out and doing all sorts of good works. When I think of “honors kid out in the world,” I think of those genius kids in the news that discovered the cure to some disease in a third-world country or kids that found charity organizations.

This ties into the expectations for community service in the Program because the program wants us to become at least some derivative of the idols I mentioned before. The program wants to promote a culture of valuing community service and to teach kids how it is not simply a requirement they are enforcing but rather a beneficial essential of being in a community.

In my opinion, serving the community means getting involved with other people to promote a safe and healthy environment. It is more than just joining a club or organization and going to all the meetings; it is about actually doing something. I think my role in the Baruch community is to make meaningful connections with people, as well as to advance my career by connecting with others. As a Baruch Scholar, I think my role is to take advantage of the fact that I don’t have to pay for tuition by giving back to Baruch in the best way that I can. That may be by donating to a fundraiser, or helping out administer one. Perhaps I can give back by joining a club and becoming an active member by participating in many activities. Personally, this is something that I realistically see myself doing, which is important to me. I do not want to set unrealistic goals for myself, like trying to become president of a club or whatever; that is something that I both do not want to do, nor see myself pursuing. Is it a way to give back to the Baruch community? Maybe, but do I see myself doing it? Most likely not.

Basically, I want to be able to contribute in the best way that I personally can in order to continue promoting the culture of service that the Honors Program advocates. I am not going to say that I will start my very own club to help stop world hunger because it is not realistic for me. I just hope that whatever type of service I do pursue that it makes a difference in some way shape or form in the Baruch community, even if it is just a small dent.

My name is Huzaifa Tariq. My name at birth was Usama Tariq, but my parents thought it would be best to change my name. Although on paper my name is Huzaifa, my friends and family call me Usama. In an effort to not confuse everyone I meet, I let people call me whatever they want to call me. Although, I was born and lived in the Bronx for most of my life, I moved to Yonkers a few years back.

After attending a not so great middle school, I was fortunate enough to attend a really good high school, Bronx Science. Attending Bronx Science was the best thing to happen to me. I was with 3000 more people who had similar aspirations as me. Everyone there came with a vision to succeed. Because most of my high school friends weren’t from the Bronx, I traveled to Manhattan a lot to meet up with them. I fell in love with the city and only wanted to attend a college in Manhattan. Thus Baruch was the best choice.

I come from a family of accountants. My dad is an accountant, both of my grandfathers were accountants and all my uncles are accountant. My parents attempting to keep me away from accounting urged me to become a doctor or engineer, but naturally I gravitated towards business, choosing to deviate from accountancy to finance. I fell in love with finance through a Business Club, I attended and later led during my time at Bronx Science.

Today is September 28^th, which means more than an entire month has passed since the first official day of college. I was wondering how I would adjust to college life and handle the four hour breaks on Tuesdays and Thursday, but it hasn’t been difficult since Baruch has so much to offer during club hours. Although, I started to visit clubs just to kill time and get free food, I ended up really enjoying a lot of those clubs. Another aspect of Baruch that has kept me busy are all the professional events that are going around the school. These events offer such a great learning experience and I have visited many including one with Morgan Stanley panelists. The best part about these events is I get an excuse to wear a suit. Baruch isn’t given as much credit as it deserves. Baruch offers a lot and I have made a lot of friends in a really short time.

Over the summer, everyone at my internship told me to enjoy college and make the most of it. Although, everyone there graduated from different colleges they all said the same thing “College is the best four years of your life.” I look forward to making college the best four years of my life as well. My biggest concern was probably that I would not get the entire college experience at Baruch, since it is a commuter school. But, so far it has been a really great experience and I expect it to stay this way. My goal is to try and get more involved around campus and join more clubs, but for now I am just having a blast.

I know I passed the 250 words a while back, but I get carried away talking about myself.

Hey everyone

My name is Aldair Salamanca and I’m 17 years old. I’m born and raised in Brooklyn and went to Millennium Brooklyn High School. I live with my parents and 2 younger siblings.

There have been a couple difficult experiences with my family that have shaped who I am today. There are all types of obstacles faced in life but my family has taught me to be strong and push through by staying together. Even though there are difficult times, it’s all for a reason because at the end of the day we’ll be better off than we were in the beginning.  Coming from a Latino family has really made me open my eyes to things that I used to not think about. It pushes me to work hard for my family and myself. I take pride in being Mexican and seeing other Latinos become successful.

For the first semester I want to go in working hard to get a high GPA to be able to keep the scholarship. The pressure of keeping the required GPA makes me nervous but a strong start will really be helpful for the future. I’m beginning to get used to the style of college, the time in between classes, the responsibility, and the homework that has to be done. Even though I’m still in a bit of a high school mode, I hope that changes for me to become a better and more responsible student. I also hope to grow as a person, make connections/network, and keep or create relationships with others over the course of these 4 years. My overall view on college is optimistic and I’m excited to see what these next couple years have in store.

Kenneth Fremer Group 1

Going into Baruch, I was kind of excited but also pretty calm. For me, that’s rare – in the past I’ve gone into new situations an anxious mess or at the very least, frantic.

In high school, it took me a while to really connect to people I cared about; I used to be a lot more reserved and quiet. Over time, though, I found my home in my school’s tech crew. They were like a second family – we did everything together, and they were essentially my closest friends. The people in tech crew helped me really blossom in junior & senior years – I ended up with a core group of five or six friends who helped me make the most of high school and of an often stressful learning environment and personal life. I used to be afraid of going to college, because I’d lose the group that made me feel secure.

My time with tech crew isn’t completely over, the more that I think about it. A lot of my getting over anxiety and self-consciousness was because of them, and I’m trying to take that with me into college. Also, I still talk to a lot of people from the crew daily, and quite a few stayed nearby. Without their support, I don’t think I’d be as happy as I am now. No matter what happens throughout college, I’ve got a shoulder to lean on. So, I’m trying to be more on top of things, more active, and more confident in myself. I guess I’ll see how that actually comes into practice!

I don’t know where I’m going, but I know I can be happy wherever it is.

Hello World! My name is Victor Guindi! I am 19 years old as a freshman at Baruch College this Fall 2017.

Being born and raised at the heart of the Sephardic Jewish Community of Brooklyn, NY, I am constantly exposed to many different events, people and resources that have shaped me as a person. As a second generation of immigrant parents who have lived in Syria, moved to Israel and Panama, and settled in New York, I constantly switch my dialog among several languages, speaking English with my peers, Arabic with my paternal grandparents, Spanish with my maternal relatives and Hebrew with my family in Israel.

But, why is my name “Victor?”

It’s interesting to note that in my community there is a custom to name children after their grandparents. Thus, I am the namesake of my maternal grandfather, Victor. However, I never truly grasped the meaning of my name, until a relative of mine posed the question to me. After asking my mother about the importance of my name, I was fascinated by what she had to tell me:

My grandfather, Victor, was born in Syria in 1949, a few years after the country claimed independence from its French Mandate in 1945. In addition, World War II and the Holocaust had just ended in the same year as well. As a result of these occurrences, Syrians were no longer subject to the rulership of the French and the Jews were liberated from the hostile Nazi Germany. Due to these multiple victories, it was customary for families to name their newborn boys “Victor,” which means one who defeats an opponent in battle.

Discovering the true meaning of my name has molded me into a more analytical individual, embodying the motto that “no inquiry should remain unaddressed.” This attitude should hopefully assist me as I now enter the realm of college, unfolding issues and arriving at meaningful conclusions.

People have been asking me about my major. Honestly, I’m interested in too many areas: mathematics, writing, computers, psychology, hospitality and business are just some of my interests. After much thinking I finally declared the most suitable major: UNDECLARED! Over this year in college, I plan to gain a robust knowledge in different areas and build a supportive social network in order to “address my inquiry.”